Basketball History: PBA 40 Greatest Players List of 2024

PBA history is full of legendary basketball players who have left a great impact on the world of basketball. Due to their gritting attitude, pure passion, and unimaginable hard work, these players have put their name in the history of the Philippines Basketball. So, this blog will discuss the PBA 40 Greatest Players List mentioning the respective teams and the duration of players with those teams.

Besides this, we will go through the details of the standard or criteria through which these 40 players are selected. However, with time various allegations and questions were raised on the genuineness of these players and whether they deserve the place in this list of greatest players. Let us get into the details of each prospect in this blog.

PBA 40 Greatest Players List or Fab 40 Players

This list is divided into two portions in which the first 25 players were inducted in 2000 when the PBA celebrated its silver jubilee. Later on, on the 40th anniversary of the PBA in 2015, the PBA decided to add 15 more players to this PBA 40 Greatest Players List also known as Fab 40.

25 Greatest Players Awarded in 2000

Here are the first 25 players who were first given this award on the Silver Jubilee of the PBA.

Player	PBA Teams (Duration)	MVP Award (Year)	All-Star Appearances
Philip Cezar	Crispa (1975-84)	1 (1980)	2
	Shell (1985-86)
	Great Taste/Presto (1987-89)
	Ginebra (1990-91)
Hector Calma	San Miguel (1986-94)	N/A	3
Alberto Guidaben	Crispa (1975-84)	2 (1983, 1987)	3
	Tanduay (1985)
	Manila Beer (1986)
	San Miguel (1987-88)
	Purefoods (1988)
	Alaska (1989)
	Pepsi/7-Up (1990-93)
	Shell (1994-95)
Robert Jaworski	Toyota (1975-83)	1 (1978)	4
	Gilbey's GiN/Añejo/Ginebra (1984-97)
Ramon Fernandez	Toyota (1975-83) Beer	4 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988)	5
	Hausen/Manila Beer (1984-85)
	Tanduay (1986-87)
	Purefoods (1988)
	San Miguel (1988-94)
Samboy Lim	San Miguel (1986-97)	N/A	5
Renato Agustin	San Miguel (1989-96)	1 (1992)	6
	Sunkist/Pop Cola (1996-97)
	Sta Lucia (1999-00)
	Red Bull (2000-01)
Ronnie Magsanoc	Shell (1989-99)	N/A	7
	St. Lucia (2000-01)
	Purefoods (2002)
Johnny Abarrientos	Alaska (1993-01)	1 (1996)	7
	Pop Cola (2001-02)
	Coca-Cola (2002-06)
	Barangay Ginebra (2006-09, 2010)
Allan Caidic	Great Taste/Presto (1987-92)	1 (1990)	8
	San Miguel (1993-98)
	Barangay Ginebra (1999)
Benjie Paras	Shell (1989-02)	2 (1989, 1999)	9
	San Miguel (2003)
Kenneth Duremdes	Sunkist/Pop Cola (1995-97)	1 (1998)	9
	Alaska (1998-02)
	Sta. Lucia (2003-06, 2007)
	Coca-Cola (2007-08)
Vergel Meneses	Presto (1992)	1 (1995)	10
	Sta. Lucia (1993)
	Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola (1994-99)
	Ginebra (1999-02)
	FedEx (2002-04, 2005)
	Talk 'N Text (2006, 2007)
Jerry Codiñera	Purefoods (1988-99)	N/A	11
	Mobiline/Talk 'N Text (1999-02)
	FedEx (2002-05, 2006)
Alvin Patrimonio	Purefoods (1988-04, 2005)	4 (1991, 1993, 1994, 1997)	12
Bogs Adornado	Crispa (1975-79)	3 (1975, 1976, 1981)	N/A
	U/Tex (1979-82)
	Great Taste (1982-84)
	Shell (1985-86)
	Hills Bros/Alaska (1987)
Francis Arnaiz	Toyota (1975-83)	N/A	N/A
	Gilbey's Gin/Ginebra (1984-86)
Ricardo Brown	Great Taste (1983-87)	1 (1985)	N/A
	San Miguel (1987-89)
Atoy Co	Crispa (1975-84)	1 (1979)	N/A
	Manila Beer (1985-86)
	Great Taste/Presto (1987-88)
Bernie Fabiosa	Crispa (1975-84)	N/A	N/A
	Shell (1985-86)
	Presto (1987-89)
	Purefoods (1990)
	Diet Sarsi/Swift (1991)
Danny Florencio	U/Tex (1975-76)	N/A	N/A
	7-Up (1977)
	Toyota (1977-82)
	Galerie Dominique (1983)
Freddie Hubalde	Crispa (1975-84)	1 (1977)	N/A
	Tanduay (1985-87)
	Purefoods (1988)
	Shell (1988-89)
	Añejo (1990-91)
Lim Eng Beng	Carrier (1975)	N/A	N/A
	U/Tex (1976-82)
	San Miguel (1983)
	Crispa (1984)
	Shel Azodrin (1985)
	Manila Beer (1986)
Manny Paner	Royal Tru-Orange (1975-77)	N/A	N/A
	Great Taste (1978-80)
	CDCP (1981) Royal/San
	Miguel/Magnolia (1982-86)

15 Greatest Players added to the list in 2015

Here is the list of the remaining 15 players who were added to the PBA 40 Greatest Players List in 2015.

Player	PBA Teams (Duration)	MVP Award (Year)	All-Star Appearances
Danny Ildefonso	San Miguel/Petron Blaze (1998-13)	2 (2000, 2001)	8
	Meralco (2013-15)
Willie Miller	Batang Red Bull (2001-03)	2 (2002, 2007)	9
	Talk 'N Text (2004-06)
	Alaska (2006-10)
	Ginebra (2010-11)
	Barako Bull (2011-12)
	GlobalPort (2012-13)
	Barako Bull (2013-14)
	Talk 'N Text (2015)
James Yap	Purefoods/B-Meg/San Mig Coffee/Star (2004-16)	2 (2006, 2010)	16
	Rain or Shine (2016-present)
Asi Taulava	Talk 'N Text (1999-07)	1 (2003)	17
	Coca-Cola Tigers (2007-10)
	Meralco (2010-12)
	Air21 (2013-14)
	NLEX (2014-present)
Eric Menk	Tanduay (1999-01)	1 (2005)	10
	Barangay Ginebra (2001-13)
	GlobalPort (2013-14)
	Alaska (2014-16)
Kelly Williams	Sta. Lucia Realtors (2006-10)	1 (2008)	5
	Talk 'N Text/TNT (2010-19)(2021-present)
Jayjay Helterbrand	Barangay Ginebra (2000-17)	1 (2009)	6
Jimmy Alapag	Talk 'N Text (2003-15)	1 (2011)	11
	Meralco (2015-16)
Mark Caguioa	Barangay Ginebra (2001-20)	1 (2012)	13
Arwind Santos	Air21 (2006-09)	1 (2013)	11
	San Miguel (2009-21)
	NorthPort (2021-present)
Jayson Castro	Talk 'N Text/TNT (2008-present)	N/A	7
Marc Pingris	FedEx Express (2004-05)	N/A	14
	Purefoods (2005-08)
	Magnolia/San Miguel (2008-09)
	Purefoods/B-Meg/San Mig Coffee/Star (2009-19)
Kerby Raymundo	Red Bull (2000-01)	N/A	10
	Purefoods/B-Meg (2002-12)
	Barangay Ginebra (2012-13)
	Meralco (2013)
Chito Loyzaga	YCO-Tanduay (1981)	N/A	4
	Toyota (1983)
	Great Taste (1984-85)
	Ginebra (1986-93)
Marlou Aquino	Ginebra/Gordon's Gin/Barangay Ginebra (1996-00)	N/A	6
	Sta. Lucia (2000-10)
	Meralco (2010-11)

Criteria for Player Selection:

Certain criteria were checked before putting layers into this prestigious list.

• The first standard was; that a player should have played 4 or more seasons with any team/teams.
• He should have made contributions to the success and growth of Basketball in the Philippines.
• He must have grabbed an impacting award while playing for the PBA League.
• A Player must have left a long-lasting impact on the PBA League.

Criticism on PBA 40 Greatest Players List

With time, this list of the greatest players has been under severe criticism upon selection of players. Many former players in this list have questioned the place of certain players like Kerby, Marc Pingris, and Marlou Aquino. According to them, there were many other players like Olsen Racela, Abe King, and Yoyoye Vilamin who deserved to be on the list.

Furthermore, there was criticism of including current players who are at the peak of their careers enrolled on this prestigious list.